Obama Promises MoveOn.org: We’ll Raise Taxes

President Obama held his unity meeting at the White House today over the fiscal cliff. Attendees ranged from John Podesta of the Center for American Progress to Bono; all were there to urge the president to stick by his guns on raising taxes.

And they weren’t disappointed. According to Justin Ruben, MoveOn.org’s political action executive director, “MoveOn’s 7 million members will be pleased to know that President Obama today strongly reiterated his steadfast commitment to ensuring that the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent finally end December 31—and to protecting the middle class in the process.”

This is something new. During the campaign, President Obama promised that he would not increase taxes for those making beneath $250,000 per year. He reiterated that promise last week. But the top 2% of income earners include individuals earning more than $200,000. Obama’s bar is getting lower and lower. Those earning $200,000 are hardly millionaires. That’s a low-level lawyer at a major law firm. Or an average orthodontist.